What is the relation between cultural orientation and socially desirable responding?

Research suggests that collectivists are more likely to engage in deception and socially desirable responding to maintain good relationships with others. In contrast, individualists are portrayed as candid and sincere because individualism encourages people to "be yourself." The authors propose that people with both types of cultural orientations or backgrounds engage in desirable responding, albeit in distinct ways. In Study 1, respondents from the United States compared with those from Singapore, and European Americans compared with Asian Americans, scored higher on self-deceptive enhancement (SDE)-the tendency to see oneself in a positive light and to give inflated assessment of one's skills and abilities- but lower on impression management (IM) by misrepresenting their self-reported actions to appear more normatively appropriate. In Studies 2 to 4, horizontal individualism as a cultural orientation correlated with SDE but not with IM, whereas horizontal collectivism correlated with IM but not with SDE. Further analyses examining (a) individual differences in the tendency to answer deceptively and (b) responses to behavioral scenarios shed additional light on the culturally relevant goals served by these distinct types of socially desirable responding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multimethod probes of individualism and collectivism.

A theoretical framework concerning cultural patterns labeled individualism and collectivism is probed. As predicted, it is shown that the content of the self includes more group-linked elements in collectivist than in individualist cultures; members of collectivist cultures perceive their ingroups as more homogeneous than their outgroups, and the opposite pattern is found among members of individualistic cultures; and people in collectivist cultures perceive more intimate and subordinate social behaviors as likely toward their ingroup members and more dissociative and superordinate behaviors toward members of their outgroups than do members of individualistic cultures. Collectivists emphasize values that promote the welfare of their ingroup, whereas individualists emphasize values that promote individual goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivated response styles: The role of cultural values, regulatory focus, and self-consciousness in socially desirable responding.

Three studies investigated the relations between cultural values and socially desirable responding, the processes that underlie them, and factors that influence the strength of the relations. Results indicated that individualism was associated with self-deceptive enhancement but not impression management, whereas collectivism was associated with impression management but not self-deceptive enhancement. Regulatory focus was found to mediate these relations. A promotion focus mediated the relation between individualism and self-deceptive enhancement, whereas a prevention focus mediated the relation between collectivism and impression management. This mediation pattern held regardless of whether individualism and collectivism were determined at the group level (Study 1) or measured at the individual level (Studies 2–3), whether socially desirable responding was operationalized as a scale measure (Studies 1–3) or as reactions to behavioral scenarios (Study 2), and across different measures of regulatory focus. This general mediation pattern was found to be moderated by type of self-consciousness (Study 3): The promotion focus mediation was stronger for participants low (vs. high) in private self-consciousness, and the prevention focus mediation was stronger for participants high (vs. low) in public self-consciousness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does culture influence what and how we think? Effects of priming individualism and collectivism.

Do differences in individualism and collectivism influence values, self-concept content, relational assumptions, and cognitive style? On the one hand, the cross-national literature provides an impressively consistent picture of the predicted systematic differences; on the other hand, the nature of the evidence is inconclusive. Cross-national evidence is insufficient to argue for a causal process, and comparative data cannot specify if effects are due to both individualism and collectivism, only individualism, only collectivism, or other factors (including other aspects of culture). To address these issues, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of the individualism and collectivism priming literature, with follow-up moderator analyses. Effect sizes were moderate for relationality and cognition, small for self-concept and values, robust across priming methods and dependent variables, and consistent in direction and size with cross-national effects. Results lend support to a situated model of culture in which cross-national differences are not static but dynamically consistent due to the chronic and moment-to-moment salience of individualism and collectivism. Examination of the unique effects of individualism and collectivism versus other cultural factors (e.g., honor, power) awaits the availability of research that primes these factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships.

The individualism and collectivism constructs are theoretically analyzed and linked to certain hypothesized consequences (social behaviors, health indices). Study 1 explores the meaning of these constructs within culture (in the US), identifying the individual-differences variable, idiocentrism versus allocentrism, that corresponds to the constructs. Factor analyses of responses to items related to the constructs suggest that US individualism is reflected in (a) Self-Reliance With Competition, (b) Low Concern for Ingroups, and (c) Distance from Ingroups. A higher order factor analysis suggests that Subordination of Ingroup Goals to Personal Goals may be the most important aspect of US individualism. Study 2 probes the limits of the constructs with data from two collectivist samples (Japan and Puerto Rico) and one individualist sample (Illinois) of students. It is shown that responses depend on who the other is (i.e., which ingroup), the context, and the kind of social behavior (e.g., feel similar to other, attentive to the views of others). Study 3 replicates previous work in Puerto Rico indicating that allocentric persons perceive that they receive more and a better quality of social support than do idiocentric persons, while the latter report being more lonely than the former. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural accommodation: Hybridity and the framing of social obligation.

Implications of cultural accommodation–hybridization were explored within the framework of individualism–collectivism. Individualism highlights the personal and centralizes individuals as the unit of analyses, whereas collectivism highlights the social and contextualizes individuals as parts of connected social units. In 2 experiments, the ways in which individualism, collectivism, and identity salience influence social obligation to diverse others was explored. The authors varied the personal goal interrupted (achievement–pleasure), the target (individual–group), and focus (in-group–larger society) of social obligation within subjects. The authors hypothesized that collectivism would increase obligation to the in-group when identity was made salient; that individualism alone would dampen social obligation; and that cultural accommodation–hybridization (being high in both individualism and collectivism) would increase obligation to larger society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cultural construction of self-enhancement: An examination of group-serving biases.

Self-serving biases, found routinely in Western samples, have not been observed in Asian samples. Yet given the orientation toward individualism and collectivism in these 2 cultures, respectively, it is imperative to examine whether parallel differences emerge when the target of evaluation is the group. It may be that Asians show a group-serving bias parallel to the Western self-serving bias. In 2 studies, group-serving biases were compared across European Canadian, Asian Canadian, and Japanese students. Study 1 revealed that Japanese students evaluated a family member less positively than did both groups of Canadian students. Study 2 replicated this pattern with students' evaluations of their universities. The data suggest that cultural differences in enhancement biases are robust, generalizing to individuals' evaluations of their groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural values and professional issues in clinical psychology: Implications from the Hong Kong experience.

Discusses the growth of clinical psychology as a profession in Hong Kong despite the difficulties and barriers, including traditional cultural forces antagonistic to clinical psychology (i.e., the moralistic-authoritarian orientation). It is argued that there are also ideological biases underlying clinical psychology in the West, traceable to individualism in general. A creative synthesis of collectivism and individualism is suggested as a direction for the future of clinical psychology in the East and in the West. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in familism values and caregiving outcomes among Korean, Korean American, and White American dementia caregivers.

Recent theories have suggested that burden and distress among dementia caregivers may be higher in American culture, which emphasizes individualism, and lower in cultures with higher levels of familism. However, immigrants may experience higher levels of burden because of acculturation with attendant values, conflicts and stresses. Forty-four Korean caregivers and 32 Korean American caregivers were compared with 54 White American caregivers on sociodemographic variables, familism, burden, anxiety, and depression. Familism was highest in Korean caregivers and lowest in Whites, with Korean Americans in the middle. Koreans and Korean Americans reported higher levels of burden. Koreans showed higher levels of depression and of anxiety than White American caregivers, with Koreans and Korean Americans higher than Whites on anxiety. These results suggest a need for greater specificity in theories about familism values, with attention to the specific meaning of familism in different cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The lens of personhood: Viewing the self and others in a multicultural society.

Explored some aspects of the subjective experience of individualism and collectivism in Israel, a society that simultaneously emphasizes both worldviews. Ss were Arab and Jewish Israeli students (Study 1 n?=?211, Study 2 n?=?370, Study 3 n?=?160, and Study 4 n?=?280). As hypothesized, endorsing individualism as a worldview was related to focusing on private aspects of the self and conceptualizing the self in terms of distinctions between the self and others. Hypotheses suggesting a relationship between collectivism, centrality of social identities to self-definition, a focus on public aspects of the self, and heightened perception of intergroup conflict were also supported by the data. Unexpectedly, endorsement of an individualistic worldview was also related to these variables. Discussion focuses on the meld of individualism and collectivism that may occur in Israel. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using individualism and collectivism to compare cultures--A critique of the validity and measurement of the constructs: Comment on Oyserman et al. (2002).

Analyzing national and ethnic differences in individualism and collectivism, D. Oyserman, H. M. Coon, and M. Kemmelmeier (2002) (see record 2002-00183-001) showed that small differences in scales or samples produce markedly divergent results, challenging the validity of these constructs. The author examines the following limitations of research on individualism and collectivism: It treats nations as cultures and culture as a continuous quantitative variable; conflates all kinds of social relations and distinct types of autonomy; ignores contextual specificity in norms and values; measures culture as the personal preferences and behavior reports of individuals; rarely establishes the external validity of the measures used; assumes cultural invariance in the meaning of self-reports and anchoring and interpretation of scales; and reduces culture to explicit, abstract verbal knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of individualism and collectivism across the United States.

Although the individualism–collectivism dimension is usually examined in a U.S. versus Asian context, there is variation within the United States. The authors created an eight-item index ranking states in terms of collectivist versus individualist tendencies. As predicted, collectivist tendencies were strongest in the Deep South, and individualist tendencies were strongest in the Mountain West and Great Plains. In Part 2, convergent validity for the index was obtained by showing that state collectivism scores predicted variation in individual attitudes, as measured by a national survey. In Part 3, the index was used to explore the relationship between individualism–collectivism and a variety of demographic, economic, cultural, and health-related variables. The index may be used to complement traditional measures of collectivism and individualism and may be of use to scholars seeking a construct to account for unique U.S. regional variation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture and conformity: A meta-analysis of studies using Asch's (1952b, 1956) line judgment task.

A meta-analysis of conformity studies using an Asch-type line judgment task (1952, 1956) was conducted to investigate whether the level of conformity has changed over time and whether it is related cross-culturally to individualism–collectivism. The literature search produced 133 studies drawn from 17 countries. An analysis of US studies found that conformity has declined since the 1950s. Results from 3 surveys were used to assess a country's individualism–collectivism, and for each survey the measures were found to be significantly related to conformity. Collectivist countries tended to show higher levels of conformity than individualist countries. Conformity research must attend more to cultural variables and to their role in the processes involved in social influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uncertainty orientation and persuasion: Individual differences in the effects of personal relevance on social judgments.

In two studies we investigated the effects of personal relevance on attitude change as a function of one's uncertainty orientation. We predicted that, unlike uncertainty-oriented persons, high personal relevance would make certainty-oriented persons less careful or systematic in their processing of message arguments and more dependent on heuristics, or persuasion cues, than would low personal relevance. Results from both studies, within and across 2-week time periods, supported predictions. In Study 1, high personal relevance led to higher persuasiveness of two-sided communications and lower persuasiveness of one-sided communications than low personal relevance for uncertainty-oriented persons, but the reverse occurred for certainty-oriented persons. In Study 2, high personal relevance led to higher persuasive impact of strong arguments and lower impact for source expertise than did low personal relevance for uncertainty-oriented persons, but, again, the reverse occurred for certainty-oriented persons. We discuss implications for current theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture and concepts of power.

Five studies indicate that conceptualizations of power are important elements of culture and serve culturally relevant goals. These studies provide converging evidence that cultures nurture different views of what is desirable and meaningful to do with power. Vertical individualism is associated with a conceptualization of power in personalized terms (i.e., power is for advancing one's personal status and prestige), whereas horizontal collectivism is associated with a conceptualization of power in socialized terms (i.e., power is for benefiting and helping others). Cultural variables are shown to predict beliefs about appropriate uses of power, episodic memories about power, attitudes in the service of power goals, and the contexts and ways in which power is used and defended. Evidence for the cultural patterning of power concepts is observed at both the individual level and the cultural-group level of analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variations in collectivism and individualism by ingroup and culture: Confirmatory factor analysis.

Five models of collectivism and individualism, which varied by ingroup and measurement specification, were tested with confirmatory factor analyses. The sample consisted of 493 college students from South Korea and the United States, with U.S. students divided between Asian Americans and European Americans. Results indicated that collectivism and individualism are best represented by a 4-factor model with the latent variables Kin Collectivism (KC), Kin Individualism (KI), Nonkin Collectivism (NC), and Nonkin Individualism (NI). KC and Kl were strongly inversely related, but NC and Nl were only moderately so. Whereas KC and NC were moderately related within each of the 3 student groups, Kl and Nl were moderately related only among Koreans and Asian Americans, and not among European Americans. Thus, the meanings of collectivism and individualism vary with ingroup and culture. Measurement, methodological, and conceptual implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural syndromes and age moderate the emotional impact of illness intrusiveness in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: The authors investigated cultural syndromes (multidimensional vectors comprising culturally based attitudes, values, and beliefs) and age as moderators of the emotional impact of illness intrusiveness—illness-induced lifestyle disruptions—in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and examined illness intrusiveness effects in total and separately for three life domains (relationships and personal development, intimacy, and instrumental). Research Method/Design: People with RA (n = 105) completed the Illness Intrusiveness Ratings, Individualism–Collectivism, and Center for Epidemiologic Studies—Depression scales in a one-on-one interview. Results: Controlling for disease and background characteristics, the association between illness intrusiveness (total score and the Relationships and Personal Development subscale) and distress was inverse when young adults with RA endorsed high horizontal individualism. Illness intrusiveness into intimacy was associated with increased distress, and this intensified when respondents endorsed high vertical individualism, horizontal collectivism, vertical collectivism, or low horizontal individualism. The negative emotional impact of illness intrusiveness into intimacy diminished with increasing age. Conclusion: Given an aging and increasingly pluralistic society, diversity can no longer be ignored in addressing the psychosocial impact of chronic, disabling disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A socially contextualized model of African American identity: Possible selves and school persistence.

Schooling, critical to the transition to adulthood, is particularly problematic for urban and minority youths. To explore predictors of school persistence the authors propose a socially contextualized model of the self. Strategies to attain achievement-related possible selves were differentially predicted for White and Black university students (Study 1, n?=?105). For Whites, individualism, the Protestant work ethic, and "balance" in possible selves predicted generation of more achievement-related strategies. For Blacks, collectivism, ethnic identity, and low endorsement of individualism tended to predict strategy generation. In middle school, performance was predicted by "gendered African American identity schema," particularly for females (Study 2, n?=?146), and the effects of social context appeared gendered (Study 3, n?=?55). Balance in achievement-related possible selves predicted school achievement, especially for African American males (Study 4, n?=?55). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The debate on individualism: Indigenous psychologies of the individual and their role in personal and societal functioning.

Two sides have emerged in the debate over the merits of American individualism. This article enters that debate first by differentiating between 2 indigenous psychologies of individualism, varying by the nature of the self–nonself boundary, the understanding of control as personal or field, and the conceptualization of persons as defined by their exclusiveness or their inclusiveness. Self-contained individualism (firm boundaries, personal control, and an exclusionary concept of the person) is the familiar cultural type, addressed both by proponents and opponents of individualism. An alternate indigenous psychology, which I term ensembled individualism, is supported by cross-cultural, historical, and intracultural evidence and defines a contrasting framework for understanding individualism. Three core cultural values—freedom, responsibility, and achievement—are examined under each type. Contrary to the proponents of self-contained individualism, who state that only this type of individualism can realize these 3 values, I suggest not only that ensembled individualism can achieve these cultural ideals in a more lasting manner, but also that the self-contained form may actually thwart their realization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uncertainty orientation, the self, and others: Individual differences in values and social comparison.

97 undergraduates completed materials from which uncertainty orientation was assessed. Several months later, 60 of the Ss were asked to complete an abbreviated version of G. W. Allport and P. E. Vernon's (1931) values survey. Subsequently, they were shown their scores and permitted to view as many comparison scores as they wished. Uncertainty-oriented Ss (UCOSs) viewed more comparison scores than did certainty-oriented Ss (COSs). This occurred regardless of whether they believed that the scores came from a similar (student) or dissimilar (community) sample or of how important the specific value was to them. UCOSs also scored higher than COSs in theoretical and aesthetic values on the values survey, reflecting an interest in trying to understand one's world. COSs scored higher in religious values. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)